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India's Emerging Nuclear Posture

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This research brief describes work documented in India's Emerging Nuclear Posture: Between Recessed Deterrent and Ready Arsenal (MR-1127-AF).

Excerpt: After a hiatus of almost 24 years, India startled the international community by resuming nuclear testing in May 1998. Pakistan responded later the same month with nuclear tests of its own. In the aftermath of these events, many Indian strategic analysts and commentators asserted that New Delhi had been transformed into a consequential "nuclear weapons power," while the United States and others in the international community increased pressure on India to renounce its nuclear weapons program. An understanding of India's emerging nuclear posture is crucial to both the United States' global antiproliferation efforts and its interests in South Asia. According to a new book by RAND senior policy analyst Ashley J. Tellis, the truth about India's strategic environment, nuclear capabilities, and evolving doctrinal preferences, as well as the technological and organizational tasks facing New Delhi, is far more complex than is commonly acknowledged.

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